Homemade Refried Beans With Free Printable

"I love this recipe because it can be eaten with traditional Mexican dishes such as Arroz Rojo and mole poblano, as a side dish in any meal, or as a delicious meal by itself with a couple of fresh tortillas, Salsa Molcajete Roja, and some avocado slices."

- Rahanna Bisseret Martinez

Welcome to the kitchen! This homemade refried beans recipe is simple to make and you can even sneak in a bit of a workout if you like. Or pass the fun on to the kids. This easy refried beans dish is perfect for the whole family.

Learn more about cooking with kids.

If you like learning how to make refried beans, you'll love crispy tostadas that aren't fried and bean & beef tostadas.

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Flavor + Us Cookbook

This easy refried beans recipe comes from Flavor + Us: Cooking for Everyone by Rahanna Bisseret Martinez.

Rahanna is a Top Chef Junior finalist and has worked in the some of the best kitchens around the world. In her debut cookbook, she's taking readers on a journey around the globe with more than 70 recipes that explore culture and cuisine, and will improve your skillsets with easy-to-understand tips and techniques.

Be curious, and always keep your eyes and heart open to new flavors, ingredients, and experiences. When I get home from a farmers' market or grocery store, I almost immediately dive into cookbooks and food media to learn more. I want to understand an ingredient's origin, its traditional uses, and how those traditional uses have been modified in modern cooking. I compare what I was told with what I thought I understood and what others are saying. Then I go to the kitchen and start experimenting. It's the best!

- Rahanna Bisseret Martinez

You can find more from Rahanna Bisseret Martinez in Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora and For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food.

Stop by our shop to see more Family & Kids' Cooking Resources.

Learn more about allergies and your family.

How to Make Refried Beans

Ingredients

• beans - Rancho Gordo's dried pinto beans are delicious and they make the creamiest homemade refried beans
• salt - for the perfect seasoning, this recipe calls for sea salt
• bay leaf - we like to add 1 large or 2 small bay laurel leaves to every pot of beans we cook
• oil - avocado oil or any neutral cooking oil will work
• onion - grab the yellow onion for this refried beans recipe
• bell pepper - this recipe calls for green bell pepper
• garlic - garlic cloves will give the best results but you can also use garlic powder. Here's a garlic conversion guide
• cumin - these cumin seeds smell and taste amazing. You'll want to keep your molcajete handy if you're working with seeds
• black pepper - we like Diaspora Co.'s Aranya black pepper. You'll want a pepper mill or molcajete for freshly ground black pepper
• water

Equipment

• apron
• prep bowls
• kitchen scale
• jar with lid
• child-friendly knife
• butcher block
• measuring spoons
• stock pot or large pot or pan
• pasta insert for stock pot or fine mesh strainer
• molcajete (optional)
• blender or immersion blender
• machacadora (optional) - for mashing the pinto beans
• wooden spoon

1. Soak the Beans

Wash your hands with soap and water.

Weigh the beans needed for this refried beans recipe using a kitchen scale. Place the beans in a mason jar or bowl and add enough water to cover the beans. Next, add 1 teaspoon of salt and stir.

Soak the beans for 2-6 hours. We like to soak the pinto beans overnight, so more like 8 hours. Check periodically to make sure all of the beans are submerged. Add additional water as needed.

Learn more about soaking beans.

If you don't soak the beans beforehand, you can still make this homemade refried beans recipe. You'll just need to let the beans cook longer to reach the desired texture.

If you want to skip the soak, Rahanna suggests boiling a stock pot with water, beans, and salt on high heat, turning off the stove so the beans may sit for 1 hour, and then draining the water before moving on to step 2.

2. Cook the Beans

Wash your hands. Transfer the beans to the stock pot. Add enough water to cover the beans (about 2 inches higher) and a bay leaf. Turn the burner on high heat. Once the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the beans simmer.

Cook the beans until softened, anywhere between 30 minutes and a couple of hours. The length of time will depend on whether you boiled or soaked the beans and for how long.

3. Prep the Vegetables

While the beans are cooking, use a knife and cutting board to chop the garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Transfer them to a bowl and set aside for later.

If you need to grind your spices, this is also a great time to get that done, while waiting for the beans to cook. We use a molcajete to grind the cumin and black pepper.

Rahanna says the beans are done when they're "soft and not gritty or dry on the inside."

4. Drain the Beans

Remove the bay leaf from the pot. If you're using a stock pot with an insert, you can lift out the insert with the beans and set it aside. Next, transfer the bean broth to an airtight container.

5. Heat the Oil

Add the oil to the pot and heat over the same medium-low setting you cooked the beans on.

6. Cook the Vegetables & Add the Beans Back to the Pot

Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and cumin you prepared in step 3 to the stock pot. Give it a stir. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

Add the beans back to the stock pot and mix everything with a spoon.

7. Mash the Beans

Use the machacadora to mash the beans in the stock pot. If you push down and turn, you should find that the beans mash easily.

Have you ever seen a city worker turn your water on from the street? That motion. That'll do it.

If you find your beans are too tough to mash, you may need to cook them longer. If they're fully cooked but just not quite tender enough to mash using the machacadora, you can go straight to a blender.

8. Blend the Beans as Needed

If you run out of steam before all of your beans are mashed how you like them, you can use a blender to finish the job.

Let the beans cool to room temperature. Use a wooden spoon to transfer the beans to the blender cup and then blend. You may want to pause and add more bean broth as needed.

You can also use an immersion blender. This is helpful if you don't want to wait for your beans to cool before transferring them to a blender cup. It also helps to prevent loss during the transfer.

9. Keep Blending Until Creamy or the Desired Consistency

Blend the beans until they're as creamy as you want them to be. Turn off the stove when finished.

If you're working with an immersion blender, your homemade refried beans are ready to eat. Just transfer them to a dish, such as this oval gratin baking dish, and dig in.

If you blended the beans using a traditional blender, you'll want to reheat them before serving for the best results.

Enjoy!

Free Refried Beans Recipe for Pre-Readers and Up

Free Food & Equipment Spanish - English Language Cards

Grab your free food and equipment Spanish - English Language Cards, complete with a sorting extension.

Kids can sort the cards into rows or columns using the heading cards: food and equipment. The colors of the cards provide a control of error so that kids can self-correct when completing this work independently.

These sorting cards also make excellent three-part cards for introducing new vocabulary. To use these as 3-part cards, simply print two copies of the printable and then cut the labels off the cards on one of the copies. Children can match the picture and then match the label as they show readiness.